The 7 Best Cabin Tents 2024 (I Bought & Tested Them All!)

For this review, I bought and tested these 7 best cabin tents:

1. Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6

2. Gazelle T4 Hub Tent

3. REI Wonderland 6

4. REI Skyward 4

5. Columbia Mammoth Creek 10

6. Core Instant Cabin 9

7. Core Straight Wall Cabin 10

This page contains affiliate links, and that means that I may earn a commission if you buy something, at no extra cost to you. You can find my full disclosure policy here.

Here’s a quick summary of all the cabin tents that I recommend (after buying and testing, of course).

Here’s why you can trust me – I spent almost $2,500 buying all 7 of these cabin tents (yes, I actually buy all my tents with my own savings), and I also spent about 2 months testing all these tents out.

Also, if you prefer watching to reading, I compiled all the info in this blog post into a YouTube video that I published to my channel (TBC, it’s still in the works!):

But if you prefer reading, I’ll take you through all the detailed recommendations right now.

1. Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 (Best Value for Money Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 84 inches

• Lowest height: 66 inches

• Base area: 93.4 square feet

• Set up timing: 14 minutes

• Pack away timing: 12 minutes

• Packed size: 29 by 13 by 9 inches

• Weight: 22.4lbs.

Pros and Cons

Summary

I’m putting the Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 first, not because it’s the best performing (it’s not), but because it offered me the best value for money.

If you take a look at this chart that I created, mapping out the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) against how well each cabin tent performed, for its relatively affordable price, the Eureka performed way better than the rest.

Overall, it’s a great price, the quality is much better than budget tents like Coleman and Core, and it also comes with a lifetime warranty, so that’s why I felt this Eureka would be the best cabin tent for most campers out there.

On top of that, I found the Eureka to be one of the most spacious cabin tents I’ve ever used for family camping.

The peak height is a full 7 feet tall, and even after I stretched my arm upwards as much as I could, and I stood on tiptoes at the same time, I still couldn’t reach the top of the tent. The only way I can actually touch the top is if I jump a little bit.

The lowest height at the four corners also came in at a whopping 66 inches, which is still taller than my height (I’m 5’3), so I had no problem standing there too. So, basically, I can stand up everywhere inside the tent! (Having near vertical walls in the Eureka certainly helped with this too!)

And if you find this 6-person size to be too small for your needs, you can opt for a Eureka Copper Canyon LX 12 instead, which is a way larger tent than mine, and easily 8 to 10 campers can sleep comfortably in this.

(FYI: The Eureka LX 12 is my favorite best family cabin tent because of its huge 12-person capacity and overall spaciousness!)

And for a regular setup (non-instant) tent, I found the set up to be not too difficult, especially compared to other cabin tents that I have. I could do it completely on my own, and in only 14 minutes.

The pack away was an amazing experience as well, it was easy for me to push the air out of the tent, and the carry bag is amazing. It’s a top-loading spacious carry bag, and has not just zips but Velcro strips as well. In fact, I could even zip up the entire thing one-handed!

However, because of the massive structure and vertical walls, I found that the Eureka catches wind very easily. Once, I didn’t stake down my Eureka, and it blew away in a very light wind (at most 5mph).

And all the guylines are on the rainfly. So, when you remove the rainfly on sunny days, the tent won’t be able to take anything more than a light to moderate wind.

I also did have to seal the vertical seams running from the top of the tent down to the floor. Weirdly enough, mine only came inverted, and not sealed. (Thankfully, the rest of the seams are taped!)

Overall, unless you expect to be using the Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 in massive wind or rainstorms, it’s definitely a fantastic, very spacious cabin tent that won’t burn a hole in your wallet.

Check out the Eureka Copper Canyon:

2. Gazelle T4 Hub Tent (Best Instant Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 77.5 inches

• Lowest height: 67 inches

• Base area: 61.0 square feet

• Set up timing: 5 minutes

• Pack away timing: 6 minutes

• Packed size: 68 by 13 by 10 inches

• Weight: 34.0lbs

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Gazelle T4 Hub Tent, like the Eureka, is another value-packed cabin tent. Yes, it’s slightly more expensive than the Eureka, but it’s also slightly better performing.

And this Gazelle T4 is suitable for all of you guys who skipped past the Eureka because you wanted the best cabin tent with an instant setup.

The Gazelle has completely pre-attached poles, so all I had to do was to pop open the 5 hubs around the tent, and this tent almost literally just ‘pops open’.

Check out how the Gazelle compares to a regular 4-person tent from REI (notice how it takes only half the time?):

• Gazelle T4: 5 minute setup, 6 minute pack away
• REI Skyward: 12 minute setup, 12 minute pack away

The Gazelle doesn’t just dominate in terms of set up and pack away, it also has 2 doors (which is rare for a 4-person tent), 6 humongous pockets all around the tent (again, rare for a 4-person tent), and even a gear loft at the top.

Also, the Gazelle’s flooring is completely removable, making it incredibly easy to clean and pack away.

On top of that, the materials of the Gazelle are superb. Surprisingly, it has a super-thick 210D polyester tent body, and an even thicker 300D polyester flooring.

However, the biggest con to this tent is the massive packed size and weight. It’s the heaviest cabin tent in this review, despite being only a 4-person tent.

And have you ever seen a regular car camping tent that’s bigger than you? Well, when I first got the Gazelle delivered, I was shocked at how long it was.

But if you’re looking for a great instant cabin tent, this Gazelle T4 Hub Tent is easily the best instant cabin tent I’ve ever tested.

Pro-Tip: And I’ve tested 7 of the best instant tents in the market, so I think I know a little bit about this.

Check out the Gazelle T4:

3. REI Wonderland 6 (Best Premium Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 81 inches

• Lowest height: 76 inches

• Base area: 82.5 square feet

• Set up timing: 19.5 minutes

• Pack away timing: 16.5 minutes

• Packed size: 30 by 15 by 10 inches

• Weight: 23.6lbs.

Pros and Cons

Summary

If you have a bigger budget to spend on a cabin tent, then the REI Wonderland 6 is easily the best cabin tent that I’ve ever used (so far).

It beats all the other tents in this review in first, the amount of mesh and ventilation. Notice how the mesh doesn’t just cover only the roof, but it extends down the sides of the tent as well?

I think easily about half the tent is covered in mesh, which means tons of hot day ventilation. This keeps the interior cool in hot weather.

On the other hand, for most cabin tents in this review, only the roof has ceiling mesh, plus a few large mesh windows (and maybe even not-so-large mesh windows).

The Wonderland also has the best door design I’ve ever seen on any cabin tent so far.

• There are 2 doors, and each door is huge (66 by 64 inches), taking up almost the entire wall of the tent.

• Zippers are YKK.

• Unzipping/zipping the entire door takes just 4 seconds, and is completely one-handed.

• Each door comes with a door pocket (the best door stowing possible), and stowing the door away takes just 3 seconds.

• Each door is also super tall, measuring about 72.5 inches from the ground to the top of the door. This is one of the rare few tents that I didn’t have to duck to get through the door at all.

Another thing that makes the Wonderland one of the best cabin tents is its super impressive lowest height.

The peak height is 81 inches in the middle, and the extreme left and right of the tent have lowest heights coming in at 77 and 76 inches.

So, basically, you get the peak height across the entire length of this Wonderland tent, which is super cool, and great for spacious family camping.

The next test that the Wonderland did the best in is the weather protection (rain and wind) test.

I put it through 1 hour of heavy rain, followed by a few hours of moderate rain after (so basically one entire night of raining), and there were only 2 drops of water in the tent, from the divider loops at the bottom.

And that’s because these loops weren’t waterproofed, so once you get that sealed, there should be no leaking. As far as cabin tents go, this is the best result I’ve seen so far, and that’s because the Wonderland has a much longer rain fly than all the other cabin tents in this review.

Now, I wouldn’t recommend any cabin tents if you’re expecting super strong wind, but if you’re only dealing with light to moderate winds, then the Wonderland would probably be the best.

It has the most guylines, coming in at a whopping 14 guylines. (It’s not even the biggest tent here, but it has so many more guylines than even the 10-person tents.)

However, the Wonderland is really expensive at its suggested retail price. And if you add on the mud rooms (you can add either 1 or 2 of them) for extra space, that will drive your purchase price up.

But I recommend still checking it out if you’re really interested in this Wonderland. Sometimes, REI may have a 20-30% sale on this tent, which helps to make the purchase a little easier to swallow. This makes it a great deal for such a spacious family camping tent.

Check out the REI Wonderland:

4. REI Skyward 4 (Most Versatile Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 78 inches

• Lowest height: 61 inches

• Interior space: 58.5 square feet

• Vestibule area: 23.6 square feet

• Set up timing: 12 minutes

• Pack away timing: 12 minutes

• Packed size: 25 by 10 by 9.5 inches

• Weight: 14.2lbs.

Pros and Cons

Summary

The ‘Most Versatile; Cabin Tent I have is the REI Skyward, because it’s the only cabin tent in this review that comes with a vestibule.

It’s not the biggest vestibule I’ve ever seen, it doesn’t fit anything bigger than a couple of Helinox chairs, but it still gave me extra floor space for storing wet gear, on top of the interior space inside the tent.

And most importantly, I could turn the vestibule into an extended awning on hot days, which provided a ton of shade over the tent.

Pro Tip: So, awning for hot weather, vestibule on rainy days, I absolutely love this kind of versatility in a tent. And that’s the main reason I love the REI Skyward.

On top of that, because this is a higher-end REI tent, I also got above-average-quality flooring, tent body and rainfly, coming in at 150D polyester, 75D polyester, and nylon respectively.

I also got higher quality aluminum poles, while most of my other cabin tents are usually made of steel or fiberglass poles, and I don’t find these to be as good.

And of course, unlike budget tents like Core (my 6th and 7th recommendations below), which don’t come with all its seams taped, every single seam in my Skyward tent was perfectly taped.

However, the Skyward also has the tiniest rain fly I’ve ever seen in a cabin tent.

Luckily, thanks to the perfect seam taping, if there’s no wind, and the rain comes down vertically, your Skyward wouldn’t leak.

But the thing is, if there’s any kind of wind, it would easily blow the rain under the rainfly, and get into the tent. Honestly, if the rainfly weren’t so tiny, it would be phenomenal in the rain.

And one more smaller con is that during my first time setting this Skyward up, the awning pole was ridiculously difficult to get into place, and it took this tent about 2-3 days to completely break in.

Check out the REI Skyward:

5. Columbia Mammoth Creek 10 (Best 2-Room Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 80 inches

• Lowest height: 62 inches

• Base area: 138.0 square feet

• Set up timing: 28 minutes

• Pack away timing: 16 minutes

• Packed size: 30 by 14 by 12 inches

• Weight: 34.5lbs.

Pros and Cons

Summary

If you’re looking for a cabin tent that has two rooms, the Columbia Mammoth Creek 10 is easily the best cabin tent in this review, because it has the absolute best room divider I’ve ever seen.

What I really liked about the Columbia’s room divider is that it’s completely full length, there are no gaps at all throughout the entire divider (no gaps even at the bottom), and it’s not see-through at all, which really helps to create entirely separate rooms in one tent.

The other 3 tents in this review that have room dividers (REI Wonderland 6, Core Cabin 10, Core Instant Cabin 9) aren’t as good.

REI’s room divider is decent, but it doesn’t extend all the way down to the ground (there’s a gap of about 5 inches at the bottom).

And both Core tents’ room dividers were completely see-through, which is terrible for privacy and creating two separate rooms.

On top of just being the best 2-room cabin tent, the Columbia Mammoth Creek is also one of the most feature-rich cabin tents in this review, with all these additional features as well:

It has 2 pull-out windows, which I could leave open even in the heavy rain, and no water got into my tent through these windows.

On the other hand, for all the other cabin tents in this review, none of them have windows that I could leave completely open in the rain.

The Columbia also has the biggest T-door of all the other cabin tents in this review, and it also has 1 power port with a Velcro closure, if that’s something that you need.

On top of that, all the seams in the Columbia were perfectly taped, making for great heavy rain protection. Mine lasted a whopping 8 hours in heavy rain with minimal leaking.

There was one feature that the Columbia was lacking though, and that’s in storage. For a 10-person tent, mine only had 2 mesh storage pockets and 2 lantern loops. That’s nowhere near enough.

Also, the Columbia was the cabin tent that took the longest to set up. To be more specific, setting up this entire tent on my own took me almost half an hour, and that’s with a little help from my bro (cos propping this tent up to get the leg poles in was a real pain).

Speaking of poles, I also thought that the fiberglass roof poles could be thicker and beefier. It was pretty thin, and a moderate gust of wind was able to blow the entire mesh roof (poles and all) of my tent in.

Luckily, this damage wasn’t permanent. I could easily pop it back up.

Check out the Columbia Mammoth Creek:

6. Core Equipment Instant Cabin 9 (Best Large Instant Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 75.5 inches

• Lowest height: 64 inches

• Base area: 118.1 square feet

• Set up timing: 12 minutes

• Pack away timing: 9 minutes

• Packed size: 46 by 13 by 12 inches

• Weight: 30.0lbs.

Pros and Cons

Summary

There aren’t that many options when it comes to large instant cabin tents of at least 9-, 10-, even 12-person capacities. Not a lot of brands supply them, and the main ones are Core Equipment, Coleman, and Ozark Trail.

And I found that this Core Equipment Instant Cabin 9 beat out its competitors. Check out this table below comparing Coleman 10-person instant tent and this Core tent:

Instant Cabin	Peak Height	Wall Angle	No. of Hubs
Coleman Instant 10	73.5 inches	35°	1
Core Instant 9	75.5 inches	15°	3

First, even though the Core has a slightly smaller max capacity of 9 people, it has 2 inches more peak height than the Coleman.

Second, the walls of the Coleman were so slanted, slanting at a whopping 35-degree angle. On the other hand, the Core walls slanted at just a 15-degree angle, which is much better. The less slanted the walls, the more livable space you would have inside the tent.

And third, the Core has a whopping 3 hubs at the top of the tent, while the Coleman has just a measly 1 hub to hold the tent up.

So, the Coleman felt really droopy, the tent fabric caves inwards a little, eating into my livable space.

(And my Ozark Trail Instant 6 was so bad, I didn’t even feel the need to test it against the Core.)

Based on the reasons above, I found Core Equipment’s instant tent mechanism to be really great quality, especially for the relatively low price I paid for it.

This also made setting up and packing away this tent a real pleasure, especially considering how massive it is (it is, after all, a big 9-person tent).

Sliding the pre-attached poles into place was really smooth and user-friendly, and everything clicked together in place easily when setting up. And the carry bag was nice and big, with ample amount of space to pack the tent away without any frustration at all.

On top of that, this Core Instant 9 also has 2 massive ground vents for ventilation, which can be opened and shut from the inside of the tent. This is a rare feature to have in family tents.

However, as for cons, I felt that the 9-person sleeping area was a little bit strange, and there wasn’t enough room for me to fit 3 queen-sized air mattresses in. I could fit only a maximum of 2 queen air mattresses. (Hey, but at least I have a lot of interior space to throw my gear and clothing around.)

And also, there’s only 2 pockets and 1 lantern loop in the tent. How is that enough for a 9-person tent?

But overall, I felt the cons were relatively minor, and the pros of a decent quality, large, instant tent for a budget price really stood out to me, and that’s the main reason why I’m recommending the Core Instant Cabin 9.

Check out the Core Instant 9:

7. Core Straight Wall Cabin 10 (Best Budget Pick/Tallest Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height: 90 inches

• Lowest height: 65 inches

• Base area: 135.8 square feet

• Set up timing: 22 minutes

• Pack away timing: 13 minutes

• Packed size: 29 by 16 by 12 inches

• Weight: 30.5lbs.

Pros and Cons

Summary

I also really liked the ‘Core Equipment’ brand for their non-instant cabin tents, I’ve got their Core Straight Wall Cabin 10, and that’s my ‘Best Budget Pick’ for its decent quality and very affordable price.

Now, on top of that, if you want the tallest possible cabin tent ever, here’s a pro-tip that you need to know.

Pro-Tip: Non-instant setup tents tend to have much higher peak heights and much more vertical walls than most instant setup cabin tents.

And that’s why the Core Straight Wall Cabin 10 is also my ‘Tallest Cabin Tent’ pick.

Of all the cabin tents in this review, the Core is by far the tallest, coming in at a whopping 90 inches.

To be honest with you though, I’m not very tall (I’m only 5’3), so this peak height was a little too tall for me.

I couldn’t reach the top of the tent, so every time I wanted to hang a lantern or get something in the gear loft, I had to stand up on a chair to reach it. It got a little annoying after a while.

My bro could reach it perfectly fine though, and he’s about 5’7 (just in case you need that reference).

Also, for a 10-person tent, this Core has only 2 pockets, 1 gear loft and 1 lantern loop. Not a whole lot of storage options here. It also doesn’t have any other features that makes it stand out in any way, compared to the other cabin-style tents in this review.

Overall, if you don’t mind a no-frills tent, I felt that the Core Cabin 10 was a solid budget-friendly option with a nice high peak height and near straight walls.

Check out the Core Cabin 10:

And here’s a quick summary of all the best cabin tents that I recommend:

1. Best Value for Money: Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6

2. Best 6-Person Cabin Tent: Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6

3. Best Instant Cabin Tent: Gazelle T4 Hub Tent

4. Best 4-Person Cabin Tent: Gazelle T4 Hub Tent

5. Best Instant Cabin Tent for Large Groups: Core Equipment Instant 9

6. Best Premium Pick: REI Wonderland 6 or Big Agnes Bunk House 6 (pending testing)

7. Best Vestibule & Awning Pick: REI Skyward 4

8. Best 2-Room Cabin Tent: Columbia Mammoth Creek 10

9. Best Budget Pick & Tallest Cabin Tent: Core Straight Wall Cabin 10

Best Canvas Cabin Tent: White Duck Canvas/Teton Sports Canvas/Kodiak Canvas Tent

Canvas tents are known for their quality and durability.

However, these durable canvas tents are also incredibly expensive and very heavy. Definitely something I need to test in the future, when I have more of a budget to do so.

Best Premium Pick (?): Big Agnes Bunk House 6

I’ve been looking for a cabin tent with a full rain fly and a vestibule (this means extra space for wet gear!) for a long time, and this Big Agnes Bunk House really seems to bring the best of the REI Wonderland and REI Skyward. I have a feeling that if I test this, this might overtake the REI Wonderland 6 as the best premium cabin tent.

Best Cabin Tent with Screen Room: Gazelle T4 Plus Hub Tent

I already bought the Gazelle T4 Hub Tent, so I didn’t have enough for their T4 Plus Hub Tent (which has a screened porch on top of the regular T4 model), but I think most of the tests that I applied to the T4 should be applicable here. I do want to get it one day though.

Unfortunately, not all cabin tents I tested were great. Here are a few that I didn’t quite like, which is why I didn’t recommend them.

Coleman 4 and 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent

So far, all the cabin-style Coleman tents I’ve tested are instant ones. And I found the instant setup mechanism of the Coleman cabin tent to be a little inferior to the competition, and even makes their cabin tent a little less roomy and a little less spacious.

And since you’re here looking for the best cabin tents, I can’t possibly recommend a non-spacious cabin tent to you.

Ozark Trail Dark Room 6-Person Instant Cabin Tent

Ozark Trail’s instant cabin tent suffer from the same problem as the Coleman’s, but with even less peak height and less vertical walls.

Ozark Trail 10-Person Family Cabin Tent

I also tested a non-instant cabin tent from Ozark Trail, this is another family camping tent, and it wasn’t too shabby. Basically, it was almost a complete mirror of the Core Equipment’s Straight Wall Cabin 10, but with only one door, less weather protection, and lower quality materials.

That’s why I’m recommending Core Equipment as the Best Budget Pick, but you can also check out this Ozark Trail tent if you need something even more budget.

When picking the best cabin tents or cabin shelters for your needs, here are a number of things to look out for (I’ve grouped them into 7 different tests, based on how relevant they are to each other):

1. Usage (ease of setup and ease of pack away)

2. Space (peak height and max capacity)

3. Features (door quality, storage options, and others)

4. Ventilation (amount of mesh)

5. Weather protection (rain test and number of guylines)

6. Quality (materials, thickness, and brands)

7. Portability (Weight and packed size)

As I was using and testing all the cabin tents in this review, I noticed quite a few little details, and I’ll give you all my results right now.

I’m going to assume you know what a cabin tent is, but if you don’t, click on the link in this paragraph.

Ease of Setup

Here are the setup timings of all the cabin tents in this video, and these timings are 1-person timings, because I set them up by myself:

Cabin Tent	Set Up Timing
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	5 minutes
REI Skyward 4	12 minutes
Core Instant Cabin 9	12 minutes
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	14 minutes
REI Wonderland 6	19.5 minutes
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	22 minutes
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	28 minutes

Naturally, the instant, easy setup tents (Gazelle and Core 9) set up much more quickly than their competitors in a similar size.

Also, the bigger and more feature-rich the cabin tent, the longer it’ll usually take to set it up.

Ease of Pack Away

As for the pack away timings, here’s another table for you:

Cabin Tent	Pack Away Timing
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	6 minutes
Core Instant Cabin 9	9 minutes
REI Skyward 4	12 minutes
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	12 minutes
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	13 minutes
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	16 minutes
REI Wonderland 6	16.5 minutes

The same 2 general observations I noted in the ‘ease of setup’ test above applies here too.

Peak Height

Here’s a table showing you the peak heights and lowest heights of all the cabin camping tents in this review:

Cabin Tent	Peak Height	Lowest Height
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	90 inches	65 inches
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	84 inches	66 inches
REI Wonderland 6	81 inches	76 inches
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	80 inches	62 inches
REI Skyward 4	78 inches	61 inches
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	77.5 inches	67 inches
Core Instant Cabin 9	75.5 inches	64 inches

The peak height (second column) is the more important metric to look at.

The lowest height (third column) is less important (because how often are you going to be standing right at the corners of the tent), but I like to look at it to see if I can stand up everywhere inside the tent.

Max Capacity

I also decided to look at the maximum capacity of each cabin tent, since ‘spaciousness’ is such a key factor in these cabin-shape tents, unlike in traditional dome-style tents.

Here’s the max capacity of each brand’s tent:

Cabin Tent	Max Capacity
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	12 campers
Core Instant Cabin 9	12 campers
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	11 campers
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	10 campers
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	8 campers
REI Skyward 4	6 campers
REI Wonderland 6	6 campers

This is just in case you need a much bigger tent. For example, if you like the Eureka Copper Canyon, but find the 6-person model too small, you can always upgrade to the massive 12-person model.

Door Quality

When it comes to features, one of the most important things that I look at is the door quality, because it’s the feature that would impact folks the most. (How annoying is it if the door always snags every time you need to get in and out of the tent, right?)

Here’s a table summarizing the number of doors in each tent, the zipping experience (how snaggy), as well as the stowing experience (how quick and user-friendly) of the doors in each cabin tent:

Cabin Tent	Number	Zipping	Stowing
REI Wonderland 6	2 doors	No snags	Pockets
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	2 doors	No snags	Toggles
Core Instant Cabin 9	2 doors	Slight snags	Toggles
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	2 doors	Slight snags	Toggles
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	2 doors	No snags	Tie-downs
REI Skyward 4	1 door	No snags	Toggles
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	1 door	Slight snags	Toggles

Storage Options

For interior storage options, here’s a table summarizing the different types of options in each tent, and also how many of each the different cabin tents have:

Cabin Tent	Pockets	Gear Lofts	Loops	Power Ports
REI Wonderland 6	8 pockets	None	2 loops	None
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	6 pockets	1 loft	None	None
REI Skyward 4	4 pockets	None	5 loops	None
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	4 pockets	2 lofts	5 loops	1 port
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	2 pockets	1 loft	1 loops	1 port
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	2 pockets	None	2 loops	1 port
Core Instant Cabin 9	2 pockets	None	1 loops	1 port

I also added the ‘power port’ option in the last column, just in case you need electrical access into your tent.

Only the first two tents had more than enough storage, the next two had an average amount of storage, and the last 3 big family cabin tents have so few storage options. Very weird.

Other Features

Two other stand-out features that I liked were the room divider and the number of windows I could leave open in the rain, and here’s a quick summary:

Cabin Tent	Room Divider	Windows in Rain
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	1 divider	2 windows
REI Wonderland 6	1 divider	None
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	1 divider	None
Core Instant Cabin 9	1 divider	None
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	No divider	None
REI Skyward 4	No divider	None
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	No divider	None

For the ‘room divider’ column, 1 room divider will usually split the tent into two rooms.

For the ‘windows in rain’ column, notice that only 1 cabin tent had windows that could be opened in the rain. And that’s because the rainflies of cabin tents tend to be quite small, so a lot of rain just drips off the rainfly and onto the mesh of the windows, usually soaking them completely.

Amount of Mesh

For ventilation, I looked mainly at the amount of mesh on each cabin tent here, and here are the results:

Cabin Tent	Amount of Mesh
REI Wonderland 6	50%
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	40%
Core Instant Cabin 9	39%
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	35%
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	31%
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	22%
REI Skyward 4	20%

These are not numbers that I just plucked out of nowhere, I actually measured all the mesh windows in all the tents, I measured the vents too, I eyeballed the amount of mesh there is for the mesh roof/mesh ceiling, and finally I came up with these estimates of the amount of mesh to fabric ratio.

Heavy Rain Test

I also put these cabin tents through at least a 1-hour heavy rain test, with some tents enduring more than that (if the weather permitted), and here are the results:

Cabin Tent	Heavy Rain Test Leaking
REI Wonderland 6	Minimal
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	Minimal
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	Minimal
REI Skyward 4	Minimal (w/o wind)
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	Moderate
Core Instant Cabin 9	Most
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	Most

The Wonderland had only 2 drops of water in the tent (without any additional seam sealing on my part), and as far as cabin tents go, this is a pretty good result.

The Columbia and Gazelle had slightly more leaking, but still pretty minimal.

The Skyward actually has no leaking at all if there’s no wind, but the moment there’s a little bit of wind, the rain will blow under the rainfly and get into the tent within minutes.

The Eureka has slightly more leaking, and the Core tents, being budget tents, had the most leaking. But overall, still pretty manageable.

Take note here that for rain and weather resistance, cabin tents tend not to be great, because their rainflies are usually really short, they cover only the very top of the tent, and extend down at most 5 to 10 inches.

Pro Tip: Basically, just take note that cabin tents are usually not meant for harsh weather conditions. Go for a dome tent instead if that’s the weather conditions you’re camping in.

RELATED: Dome Tents V.S. Cabin Tents

Number of Guylines

As for wind protection, again, most cabin tents tend not to be great. Their massive side walls usually catch a lot of wind, and if your tent isn’t staked down or guyed out, it’ll blow over in barely any wind at all.

I wouldn’t recommend any of these cabin tents if you’re expecting super strong wind, but if you’re only dealing with light to moderate winds, then these tents can do okay as long as they’re guyed out and staked down. Usually, the more guylines, the better.

And the Wonderland has the most guylines, coming in at a whopping 14. It’s not even the biggest tent here, but it has so many more guylines than even the 10-person tents.

Cabin Tent	No. of Guylines
REI Wonderland 6	14 guylines
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	8 guylines
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	8 guylines
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	8 guylines
REI Skyward 4	6 guylines
Core Instant Cabin 9	6 guylines
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	4 guylines

Cabin tents have a few pros and cons that you might want to take note of before buying one.

Materials

Here’s a quick summary of all the materials and brands in each cabin tent construction:

Cabin Tent	Flooring	Body/Fly	Poles	Zippers	Mesh
Gazelle	300D Polyester	210D Polyester	Fiberglass	YKK	Regular
REI Skyward	150D Polyester	75D Polyester/Nylon	Aluminum	YKK	Micro
REI Wonderland	150D Polyester	75D Polyester	Aluminum	YKK	Micro
Columbia	150D Polyester	75D Polyester	Steel & Fiberglass	SBS	Micro
Eureka	75D Polyester	75D Polyester	Steel & Fiberglass	SBS	Micro
Core Instant	Polyethylene	68D Polyester	Steel	No brand	Regular
Core Cabin	Polyethylene	68D Polyester	Steel & Fiberglass	No brand	Regular

I’ve arranged them from the best quality to the most budget quality.

• Typically, the thicker the polyester (example: 300D polyester), the more durable the cabin tent would be.

• For poles, I usually prefer aluminum, then steel, and fiberglass in last place.

• For zippers, YKK is top-of-the-line branding, followed by SBS.

• And for mesh, micro mesh keeps out even the smallest bugs (example: no-see-ums) that regular mosquito netting cannot.

Pro-Tip: No matter how thick your tent’s flooring is though, I would still recommend a ground tarp underneath to protect your tent. You can grab a ground tarp for cheap on Amazon here.

Weight

As for portability, here’s the weight of each cabin tent, from the lightest to the heaviest:

Cabin Tent	Weight
REI Skyward 4	14.2lbs.
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	22.4lbs.
REI Wonderland 6	23.6lbs.
Core Instant Cabin 9	30.0lbs.
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	30.5lbs.
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	34.0lbs.
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	34.5lbs.

Packed Length

And here’s also the packed length of each cabin tent, from shortest to longest, and also the second column on overall packed size:

Cabin Tent	Packed Length	Packed Size
REI Skyward 4	25 inches	25 by 10 by 9.5 inches
Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6	29 inches	29 by 13 by 9 inches
Core Straight Wall Cabin 10	29 inches	29 by 16 by 12 inches
REI Wonderland 6	30 inches	30 by 15 by 10 inches
Columbia Mammoth Creek 10	30 inches	30 by 14 by 12 inches
Core Instant Cabin 9	46 inches	46 by 13 by 12 inches
Gazelle T4 Hub Tent	68 inches	68 by 13 by 10 inches

I looked mainly at the packed length, because that’s usually the most important in determining portability.

Essentially, from the weights and packed sizes, all these tents are meant for car camping and family camping, because they’re not that packable at all.

Overall Test Results

Based on all the different tests that I conducted above, here’s all the test scores for every single tent in a neat graphic that you can check out:

If you’re looking for the best cabin tent to go on camping trips in, here’s the best quick summary I’ve got for you:

1. Best Value for Money: Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6

2. Best Instant Cabin Tent: Gazelle T4 Hub Tent

3. Best Instant Cabin Tent for Larger Groups: Core Equipment Instant 9

4. Best Premium Pick: REI Wonderland 6 or Big Agnes Bunk House 6 (pending testing)

5. Best Vestibule & Awning Pick: REI Skyward 4

6. Best 2-Room Cabin Tent: Columbia Mammoth Creek 10

7. Best Budget Pick & Tallest Cabin Tent: Core Straight Wall Cabin 10

I actually own, used, and tested all of the above cabin tents, instant and otherwise. In fact, for just this review alone, I spent a grand total of about $2,400 buying every single one of these 7 tents.

And that budget doesn’t even include cabin tents that I’ve tested and didn’t like, which didn’t end up in this review. Altogether, I’ve tested 13 cabin tents (6 of them didn’t make the cut into this review), and you can find videos on every single one of these tents on my YouTube channel here.

I hope this helps, and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I’m only a YouTube comment away, and I do my best to answer everyone.